Author Topic: Dumpster Diving for Groceries  (Read 78662 times)

frugalsurfer

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #100 on: January 10, 2017, 09:51:59 PM »
Great stuff. I'd really like to find a good DD spot for reliable supplies. My partner works at a small vegetarian cafe and they they throw out so much good food each day because the salads and other plant based foods don't look as presentable once they're a day old. She takes home as much as she wants so we always have fresh salads and other healthy treats for free. It's not DD, but it's a start.

sw1tch

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #101 on: January 12, 2017, 01:23:42 PM »
My wife and I are thinking about trying this in our area.  Posting to hear others' experience and maybe share mine in the future.

SaveSpendGiveALittle

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #102 on: January 16, 2017, 09:47:32 AM »
I just rescued 6 large bags full of holiday candy/food. None of it is expired or close to expiring, just because it has a holiday label, apparently it was time to trash it all. I will probably keep a few things such as the canned pumpkin but most of it will be donated. Everything was right on top of the dumpster and double bagged so really no worries about something being compromised.

KT Beans

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #103 on: January 16, 2017, 01:24:43 PM »
I've always wanted to try this, but in my town the two grocers have compactors.

However, once a lady posted on FB that she had wild meat in her freezer that was over a year old and wanted it gone.  She suggested it would be good to use as dog food, but I asked if it was freezer burnt.  She said she didn't think so, so I asked to take it.  I let her think I had a dog (without saying otherwise) and ate the meat all myself.  I had to cut off very small patches of freezer burn on only a couple of pieces.  I learned that freezer burnt meat is fine to eat from a food safety perspective, it only affects texture.  That was such an awesome score.

Alternatively I've considered asking my grocer for food waste for my pigs, even though I don't have pigs (or live on a farm).  We have curb side compost pick up so anything I throw out would be used to make money for the town anyhow (and I doubt the grocer composts their waste).  Haven't done it yet...

Kaybee

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #104 on: January 16, 2017, 05:41:36 PM »
I wouldn't necessarily be against this (there's even a freegan restaurant that I want to visit in Paris, I only heard about it AFTER I returned from my last trip) but the stores in my old area had compactors/locked dumpsters.  I know at least one of the nearby stores in my new area has a compactor but I haven't checked out the others...I should look into this. :)

Goldielocks

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #105 on: January 16, 2017, 06:46:05 PM »
When I worked for a retail chain, one store did have a set up for a large customer, who would pay 10% of the value for any short dated items about to be tossed.  He had a regular pickup date / time, so the employees could put it aside for him neatly the day before, and the proceeds went to the store's chosen charity (so employees were happy about it).

I think that he was from a Hutterite colony or something like that, and had a side business where he fed a lot of people as part of their work day.  Only good quality, but close dated or items being switched off shelves to make room for new products were given, and cleanly packaged.  Often, these were the items that could not get sold from the discount rack and were sold to him as a "last chance" money opportunity.

Anyway -- some of you larger volume dumpster divers may want to negotiate with a store if you have animals or a large need for regular supplies of food.

The chain I worked at, for most stores, had a recall / sort process, where instead of dumping items, they were sent to a central processing facility if non-perishable, and cleaned up, counted, and then the manufacturer was charged (for damage due to bad packaging), or sent to the discount location, or held for food bank pick up.   Several large trucks a week went to the food bank.  Note, this was partially paid by the drugstore (makeup / hair product) merchandise that the vendors paid the recall center to count and credit the stores for, as they did not trust store employees to do it correctly.

SaveSpendGiveALittle

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #106 on: January 22, 2017, 10:56:20 AM »
Stopped by a few dumpsters this morning and rescued about 10 boxes of cereal, 5 bags of popcorn, 1 bag beef jerky, 1 bag of starbucks coffee, 5 bottles of vitamin water, 1 energy drink, and I'd guess about 40 bags of various candy/snacks.  There was a few different packs of beer ( I would guess its illegal to dump alcohol and I don't drink, so I left them ) in one dumpster. Also while getting gas, I went to throw away a bag with a few items that I couldn't rescue and found a box with 10 packages of cookies.

Dicey

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #107 on: January 25, 2017, 09:55:22 AM »
In the second that I freeze, I hear clearly, repeated, "Come on in, boy."  I am frozen as a figure emerges from the shadows and approaches me.  Indigent, and likely homeless. Middle-aged, scruffy beard, bandana around head, clothes that looked as though he lived outdoors in them, casted from a low-budget horror movie.

"They got shoes.  I hid when you pulled up cause I thought you were the po-lice.  Come on in."

My buddy and I dove back into his car, afraid to turn our backs as we ran.

Great story, haha.  Loving your writing style.  DH was inside the dumpster one night when a couple goth teens rolled up and started using the darkened dumpster location as their makeout spot.  I wish I had saved our text conversation documenting his steady stream of internal dialogue until the moment he decided to say, "Hey guys, I don't want to scare you, but there's a dude in this dumpster about to come out."  They turned tail and fled, to live out their lives in traumatized fear of dumpsters.
Haha, I like your story better. In the first one, it seemed like the guy was kinda helpful, despite being down on his luck.

Just Joe

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #108 on: January 27, 2017, 09:23:22 AM »
Saw an episode of "Dirty Jobs" where food from Las Vegas casinos was salvaged and fed to pigs. Seems to me that there is a business opportunity for "old" food to be salvaged and fed to people and if not people then farm animals.

SO sad that our society wastes so much. I think our economy is dependent on waste. Think of all the broken things that get tossed that is one repair from being very usable again. SO many of my cars have been examples of this. When I young and single I drove for free by flipping cars that needed some TLC. Walk through a junkyard and you'll see as many neglected cars as you will wrecked or worn out cars. They were neglected so long and in so many ways...

Back when I was flipping cars, a friend and I would frequently dumpster dive behind some retail establishments. We'd get paperback books, magazines, a weed whacker, a push lawnmower, etc.

SirSavesaLot

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #109 on: January 30, 2017, 09:21:34 PM »
I love it when a thread starts with "Ok, so it sounds super gross."

I'm a red panda

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #110 on: January 31, 2017, 06:47:49 AM »
I just rescued 6 large bags full of holiday candy/food. None of it is expired or close to expiring, just because it has a holiday label, apparently it was time to trash it all. I will probably keep a few things such as the canned pumpkin but most of it will be donated. Everything was right on top of the dumpster and double bagged so really no worries about something being compromised.

I don't think I would donate food I took out of a dumpster. It is one thing to decide you are up for the risk (even if it is near minimal); but to expose others, without disclosing that- seems a bit crazy.

SaveSpendGiveALittle

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #111 on: February 01, 2017, 07:43:24 PM »
I am not sure I understand what is crazy or risky about this ? The food was in its original sealed container, then sealed inside 2 garbage bags. Nothing that was donated was opened or exposed to anything in the dumpster.

Goldielocks

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #112 on: February 01, 2017, 09:55:34 PM »
I am not sure I understand what is crazy or risky about this ? The food was in its original sealed container, then sealed inside 2 garbage bags. Nothing that was donated was opened or exposed to anything in the dumpster.
There is sometimes a reason  that otherwise good food is put in a dumpster -- like a recall for manufacturing problem.

You would not know about that, and would not be able to tell before you donated it.


SaveSpendGiveALittle

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #113 on: February 02, 2017, 06:15:12 PM »
I am not sure I understand what is crazy or risky about this ? The food was in its original sealed container, then sealed inside 2 garbage bags. Nothing that was donated was opened or exposed to anything in the dumpster.
There is sometimes a reason  that otherwise good food is put in a dumpster -- like a recall for manufacturing problem.

You would not know about that, and would not be able to tell before you donated it.

The vast majority of the time there is not.

It was various christmas candy that was being discarded because it was the end of January. Stores across the country throw this away every year. If there was a large quantity of one specific item, I agree, it could be recall related but I don't see the M&Ms, Reese PB cups, Kit Kats, Snickers and other candy listed on any recall list.

Companies recall food all the time after thousands have purchased/consumed the product... you are at "risk" every time you eat something from the store. I don't see an increase in the risk if common sense is used when determining what to donate against what shouldn't be consumed.

Last time I read the facts, it was something like half of the food in America goes to waste ( and this number is not due to recalls ) while 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure. I don't see anything crazy about helping to reduce this.


I'm a red panda

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #114 on: February 02, 2017, 06:28:37 PM »
Do you think the food pantry would take it if you told them you pulled it out of the dumpster? If it's no big deal, disclose it.

SaveSpendGiveALittle

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #115 on: February 02, 2017, 06:48:59 PM »
There is no one at the drop off location...  Here is what's posted at a food bank website as to what they will accept and why donations are important.

WHY DONATE

It’s financially smart.

Check with your financial advisor to learn more about the tax benefits associated with donating food.

You’re legally protected.
 The FEDERAL BILL EMERSON GOOD SAMARITAN FOOD DONATION ACT protects those who make good faith donations from liability.

It’s crucial to our community.
 Every day, we become more aware of the staggering need for emergency food in our community. In 2015, we distributed over 26 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need.

WHAT WE ACCEPT

We accept nonperishable foods, fresh produce, and prepared but unserved foods that meet these requirements.*
• All foods must be closed, sealed, and labeled. If unlabeled, complete ingredient information must be provided.
• Fresh produce must be boxed or bagged—not loose.
• Temperature-sensitive foods must be frozen or held at or below 40 degrees.
*We follow strict warehouse standards and safe food handling practices.
We do not accept milk-based soups, fresh shellfish, home-prepared foods, or foods that have been placed in a buffet serving area.

Goldielocks

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #116 on: February 03, 2017, 10:29:03 AM »
I am not sure I understand what is crazy or risky about this ? The food was in its original sealed container, then sealed inside 2 garbage bags. Nothing that was donated was opened or exposed to anything in the dumpster.
There is sometimes a reason  that otherwise good food is put in a dumpster -- like a recall for manufacturing problem.

You would not know about that, and would not be able to tell before you donated it.

The vast majority of the time there is not.

It was various christmas candy that was being discarded because it was the end of January. Stores across the country throw this away every year. If there was a large quantity of one specific item, I agree, it could be recall related but I don't see the M&Ms, Reese PB cups, Kit Kats, Snickers and other candy listed on any recall list.

Companies recall food all the time after thousands have purchased/consumed the product... you are at "risk" every time you eat something from the store. I don't see an increase in the risk if common sense is used when determining what to donate against what shouldn't be consumed.

Last time I read the facts, it was something like half of the food in America goes to waste ( and this number is not due to recalls ) while 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure. I don't see anything crazy about helping to reduce this.

The solution to this is incredibly easy to implement.  The issue is one of two things:

1)  Lack of timely and convenient transportation to the Food Bank
2)  Lack of storage at Food bank (related to perceived value of the food to the food banks.  They want peanut butter, but not pickles, etc)

What you do, is:
- go to the store manager (where you see a lot of stuff tossed) and tell him that you see a lot of good, short dated food getting tossed, and would like to bring some of it to the food bank each week.
-Ask them to put aside 2 boxes that you will pickup every Friday at 8am. with your name / foodbank name on it.  (or ask for thier time).
-Take it to the food bank.

Bonus -- ask the food bank what type of items they want the most of. 
Super Bonus -- ask the food bank if they need a free pickup driver on Fridays at 8am, and you can do the circult for them, and they arrange the food boxes with the stores.

runewell

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #117 on: February 03, 2017, 01:06:18 PM »
There is a documentary out there about this topic.  If it's still available on Netflix, look around and watch it.  I think it takes place in Canada.

Dropbear

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #118 on: February 28, 2017, 05:53:02 AM »
Inspired by this thread, I thought I'd have to see for myself just how much supermarket food goes to waste.  First try: found 2 dozen eggs and 2 hands of bananas, so I made an omelette and a smoothie, and the rest went in the fridge.  Bear: 1, Bin: 0 :)

kkbmustang

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #119 on: March 03, 2017, 09:23:46 PM »
I just watched "Just Eat It" on Amazon.  (Note: it's not free.  Reminder: I can watch it for a couple more weeks. Should watch it again.)

Pretty interesting.

FYI, this documentary is free for Amazon Prime members as of tonight.

PJ

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #120 on: March 03, 2017, 09:43:45 PM »
I just watched "Just Eat It" on Amazon.  (Note: it's not free.  Reminder: I can watch it for a couple more weeks. Should watch it again.)

Pretty interesting.

FYI, this documentary is free for Amazon Prime members as of tonight.

Hi kkbmustang!  Nice to see your name pop up on the recent/unread posts!  Hope you're doing ok these days!

okobrien

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #121 on: March 03, 2017, 10:26:59 PM »
This thread has reminded me of the annual canned food drives at the HS where I used to teach.  The vast majority of the students were poor, but many still made the sacrific, and brought in a few canned food items for the drive.  When everything was collected from the classrooms, they would sort through and throw away the expired cans because the thought was you couldn't donate expired food. So this sucked, especially because it seemed that a huge percentage of the food was expired. The remaining food was then donated to the community, which, of course, was the same people who donated in the first place- but they only got like 60% of their food back. 
To summarize: Poor people donate food. Hours of labor is spent collected and sorting said food. Half is thrown away, the other half is returned to poor people.
On a positive note, my stockpile of tasty, expired, canned food was always well stocked.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


Aggie1999

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #122 on: March 19, 2017, 09:26:02 PM »
Hit local small grocery store dumpster yesterday. Got 30+ loaves of bread that will go to feed catfish. Got one bag of tortillas that expire next month. Already ate a few of those. Got 3 boxes of Ritz type crackers past the expiration date. Don't taste that good (not stale, just cheap knock-off crackers) so those will go to the fishes also.

Dicey

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #123 on: March 20, 2017, 12:26:11 AM »
This thread has reminded me of the annual canned food drives at the HS where I used to teach.  The vast majority of the students were poor, but many still made the sacrific, and brought in a few canned food items for the drive.  When everything was collected from the classrooms, they would sort through and throw away the expired cans because the thought was you couldn't donate expired food. So this sucked, especially because it seemed that a huge percentage of the food was expired. The remaining food was then donated to the community, which, of course, was the same people who donated in the first place- but they only got like 60% of their food back. 
To summarize: Poor people donate food. Hours of labor is spent collected and sorting said food. Half is thrown away, the other half is returned to poor people.
On a positive note, my stockpile of tasty, expired, canned food was always well stocked.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I run a community-wide food drive in the Fall as part of a larger community volunteer event and at Christmas I organize a neighborhood food drive. My local food bank accepts packaged and canned goods up to one year past their expiration date. Check before you toss, always.

runewell

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #124 on: March 20, 2017, 12:38:48 PM »
Hit local small grocery store dumpster yesterday. Got 30+ loaves of bread that will go to feed catfish. Got one bag of tortillas that expire next month. Already ate a few of those. Got 3 boxes of Ritz type crackers past the expiration date. Don't taste that good (not stale, just cheap knock-off crackers) so those will go to the fishes also.

Because the catfish are starving?

LiquidLen

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #125 on: March 20, 2017, 12:51:48 PM »
You got me inspired. I have enough food in the house now, but wanted a few more vegetables, i'm gonna go *try* it after work. I really like the idea of not wasting good stuff, let's see if it works.

Aggie1999

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #126 on: March 20, 2017, 01:32:56 PM »
Hit local small grocery store dumpster yesterday. Got 30+ loaves of bread that will go to feed catfish. Got one bag of tortillas that expire next month. Already ate a few of those. Got 3 boxes of Ritz type crackers past the expiration date. Don't taste that good (not stale, just cheap knock-off crackers) so those will go to the fishes also.

Because the catfish are starving?

Parent's tank stocked with catfish. Nice to have free bread to feed them instead of the expensive fish food.

Awka

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #127 on: March 23, 2017, 06:36:29 AM »
I just watched "Just Eat It" on Amazon.  (Note: it's not free.  Reminder: I can watch it for a couple more weeks. Should watch it again.)

Pretty interesting.

FYI, this documentary is free for Amazon Prime members as of tonight.

Yay! Still free. Thanks for sharing!

TWoK

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #128 on: March 23, 2017, 09:06:55 PM »
Quote
We've already had the discussion with our kids that it's probably not a good idea to tell people at school that we eat dumpster food.  Haha.

There was a time there whenever we drove past a dumpster my son would start asking us for bananas. :D

I have really mixed feelings about this. My mom was and probably still is a dumpster diver/trash hoarder. I guess the difference is she generally claimed to be "rescuing" shit like typewriters (in the mid-90's) from the dump, yet here we are 20 years later and they are still filling up her house. I do have to say that while we all know the standard American diet and standard American lifestyle are full of waste and excess this is something you want to explain to your kids within reason. Giving your kids a pavlovian response to dumpster diving just seems to be asking for issues down the road - who knows... I'm not trying to be judgement and just trying to look for ways to lower my grocery bill myself.

I've considered diving to get food for my chickens but never for my family. Maybe time to rethink things?
« Last Edit: March 23, 2017, 09:09:04 PM by TWoK »

Awka

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #129 on: March 25, 2017, 05:37:17 AM »
Finally watched "Just Eat It." The hauls of organic or natural foods alone are crazy. Example:  The rescue boxes of Green + Blacks organic chocolate bars. Something like a year prior to Best By date, and not recalled.  Food recalls can be checked online easily. Shows them doing so.

It's definitely worth watching.  If I lived someplace with those products just trashed, I'd do it. (I'm in a very small town, one store. I think they're in Vancouver?)

HAPPYINAZ

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #130 on: March 26, 2017, 09:59:57 AM »
I watched "just eat it" last night, thanks for the suggestion.  Good documentary.  We used to harvest a lot of food from convenience stores and leave it where homeless people were staying.  They greatly appreciated it. 

haflander

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #131 on: March 06, 2018, 01:55:27 PM »
I want to revive this thread because it's quite badass. I discovered it today linked on another thread. I've never done this before and have DDd for other things, but never even considered it for food. I have gotten some furniture that I still use to this day years later, including a rolling desk chair off the top of my head (the one I use randomly at home, NOT at the office every day). To be fair though, that was a curb find and not a dumpster gem. I like the idea of doing it for non-food around campuses at the end of both college semesters.

Anyway...I read through the whole thread but still have some ?s. Those who are DD experts OR current/previous employees...do you find certain days/times to be the most fruitful? Ha! pun. I'm guessing DDers always do this at night for the best results? Are there certain times/days that new shipments come in that make it more likely to find good stuff thrown away? I know that the only way to find about for my local stores is to just dive in ;) and try it but I'm wondering if there are policies for certain chains and stores that ALWAYS throw out certain things at certain times/days.

Any more details or personal experience in 2017/2018? I'm going to try it soon and will let you know what happens. I live in a nice area (maybe MCOL) suburb that has all of the big chains as well as tons of Indian grocery stores because a bazillion Indians live in my area.

KelStache

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #132 on: March 07, 2018, 05:17:36 AM »
I want to revive this thread because it's quite badass. I discovered it today linked on another thread. I've never done this before and have DDd for other things, but never even considered it for food. I have gotten some furniture that I still use to this day years later, including a rolling desk chair off the top of my head (the one I use randomly at home, NOT at the office every day). To be fair though, that was a curb find and not a dumpster gem. I like the idea of doing it for non-food around campuses at the end of both college semesters.

Anyway...I read through the whole thread but still have some ?s. Those who are DD experts OR current/previous employees...do you find certain days/times to be the most fruitful? Ha! pun. I'm guessing DDers always do this at night for the best results? Are there certain times/days that new shipments come in that make it more likely to find good stuff thrown away? I know that the only way to find about for my local stores is to just dive in ;) and try it but I'm wondering if there are policies for certain chains and stores that ALWAYS throw out certain things at certain times/days.

Any more details or personal experience in 2017/2018? I'm going to try it soon and will let you know what happens. I live in a nice area (maybe MCOL) suburb that has all of the big chains as well as tons of Indian grocery stores because a bazillion Indians live in my area.

Good luck!

Most large chains use compactors, so unfortunately aren't dumpster diving candidates. My favourite places are a local produce store, and a larger local organic shop. I started going once a week on different days, usually after closing until I figured out when the best hauls were. With the produce shop, food was thrown out daily, same as with the organic shop, but Wednesdays usually had the most fridge and freezer stuff.

I'd recommend going 30-45 mins after closing, that way the employees have gone home, but food hasn't been sitting too long. I know people go during the day day sometimes, but I'm not that grave haha.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #133 on: March 07, 2018, 02:33:22 PM »
I used to work in a food research company and every so often we did freezer/refrigerator cleanout. Anything that was not expired could be taken home with permission and anything expired was to be slashed open and dumped in the compactor and crushed. This one time there was a big hunk of beef that was expired and this guy was told to throw it out. He asked to take it home and was told NO because it was expired. He threw it in the compactor but sneaked back out there and jumped in the compactor to take it out. Well, somehow he got stuck in the compactor and had to have someone help him get out. He had to admit he was going back for the meat. Everyone heard about it in the company and he was lucky he didn't get fired!

haflander

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #134 on: March 22, 2018, 01:14:01 PM »
My first score, woo! It's been over two weeks since I started. I had found nothing and was starting to get fairly frustrated. I have to admit that I didn't really commit to looking, I would just walk around back if I happened to park somewhere I would have gone anyway.

Today I found a load of donuts/pastries behind a donut shop. They were in one of those huge 50-pound bags that are normally used for flour. It was close to the top of the trash but did take a bit of digging to get it out from around the other bags of trash. I'm guessing there's about 10 pounds of donuts/pastries in there. Note: this was midday...so I'm guessing donut/breakfast places throw out stuff after closing around noon. I had to leave the thing in my truck as I found them running errands on my lunch break at work -_- but I remembered to park in the shade after coming back. I wasn't hungry at all but ate a chocolate eclair off the top on the assumption that they will be going bad sooner than I'll tire of eating them.

It'll take some time to sort them at home later. After a cursory look, I'll probably be throwing out ~50% of the stuff crushed beyond recognition and at the bottom of the bag. A lot of the stuff looked to be intact, however. I'm guessing it'll be breakfast/snacks for as long as I'm able to keep them fresh...about a week? Idk.

My only reservation/hesitation is that my gf will be spending some time at my place per usual this weekend. She knows I'm weird and we've talked some about $ and FIRE (and she's pretty receptive and supportive and is arguably more frugal than me!), but I feel like dumpster diving is another stop further on the train to crazy town...I'm not sure what I'll do about talking to her about this or hiding it or packing it in a way that doesn't invite suspicion, we'll see.

Does anyone have tips on how to keep dumpster gems as fresh as possible for as long as possible, considering that it often comes in massive hauls like this? I was hoping more of the other previous commenters would still be active on the forum but they may have moved on :/ and last time I revived this there weren't any new people to join the party.

homestead neohio

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #135 on: March 22, 2018, 01:26:13 PM »
Does anyone have tips on how to keep dumpster gems as fresh as possible for as long as possible, considering that it often comes in massive hauls like this

Freeze them.

Excess food is not a problem if you keep a couple of pigs.  Way better than going into the landfill, and pigs are so happy when you feed them doughnuts.  I know several people who pick up spent produce and dairy to feed to their pigs, but end up eating some of it because it is in such nice shape.  Avoids the dumpster entirely because the stores set the stuff aside for them.  They do have to commit to a pickup schedule a couple of times a week, though.  If you stop coming, they stop saving it.  No store manager wants bags of rotting produce or dairy hanging around.

Pigeon

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #136 on: March 22, 2018, 06:39:13 PM »
I'd be really careful with things with custard in them like eclairs.

haflander

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #137 on: March 23, 2018, 08:17:33 AM »
OK, it wasn't an eclair, it had no custard. I'm sure it has a name that I don't know...I'd just describe it as a pastry thing.

So after going through the thing last night I'll be throwing out most of it (no guilt, squished beyond recognition), but I did rescue a lot of these mini cinnamon roll bite things and donut holes that should last a week or so for breakfast/snacks. The dog has been enjoying the random toss here and there also of rejected stuff that will be thrown out tonight.

Davnasty

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #138 on: March 23, 2018, 08:27:10 AM »

My only reservation/hesitation is that my gf will be spending some time at my place per usual this weekend. She knows I'm weird and we've talked some about $ and FIRE (and she's pretty receptive and supportive and is arguably more frugal than me!), but I feel like dumpster diving is another stop further on the train to crazy town...I'm not sure what I'll do about talking to her about this or hiding it or packing it in a way that doesn't invite suspicion, we'll see.

Does anyone have tips on how to keep dumpster gems as fresh as possible for as long as possible, considering that it often comes in massive hauls like this? I was hoping more of the other previous commenters would still be active on the forum but they may have moved on :/ and last time I revived this there weren't any new people to join the party.

Usually I'd say it's who you are and she should know the real you... blah, blah, blah. But straight up saying, I eat food out of dumpsters might put an image in her mind that is hard to shake even once you go into details on the how and why. I wouldn't tell her you've already done it, maybe just start some conversations about food waste and how it's a shame what gets thrown away. Then bring up some of the stories about awesome finds people talk about on the internet. Then tell her you'd like to go look in some dumpsters, you know, just to see what's there.

I guess all I'm really trying to say is ease her into it. And if you can convince her to go with you and make it an adventure it'll probably go over a lot better.

One last thing, someone (Tristram Stuart I think?) did a TED talk on food waste and mentions "food reclamation" aka dumpster diving. If you can show her a smart guy in a suit advocating for your antisocial behavior it certainly wouldn't hurt your cause :)

haflander

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #139 on: March 23, 2018, 08:38:50 AM »
Thanks Dab. I agree 100% and will probably proceed along your line of thinking. While throwing away something at my apt last night (unrelated to diving for food earlier in the day) I rescued a small luggage thing, the size you use for a carryon or a weekend trip. It's beat up but definitely still serviceable and all of the handles/wheels are functional. I told her about this and she seemed to think it was acceptable/cool.

Some background...we've been together 3 months (I'm thinking about the L word) and she spends the night at my apt about twice a week. We get along great in many ways and just went on our first trip together to South by Southwest in Austin. She graduated from college a year ago and is very frugal; the best and most profitable example is that she's been living at home with her parents since graduation even though she has a full-time job to save for moving out and grad school. Suffice it to say that I really like her and wouldn't want to jeopardize things in any way.

Davnasty

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #140 on: March 23, 2018, 08:39:03 AM »
Does anyone have tips on how to keep dumpster gems as fresh as possible for as long as possible, considering that it often comes in massive hauls like this? I was hoping more of the other previous commenters would still be active on the forum but they may have moved on :/ and last time I revived this there weren't any new people to join the party.

Forgot to answer the second part I quoted. I mostly go for fresh fruits and vegetables so my only advice would be, learn to can and ferment foods. I've canned gallons of apple sauce. Anything else, I don't know if there's many options beyond freezing.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #141 on: March 23, 2018, 11:09:41 AM »
You can make an incredibly decadent bread and butter pudding using stale pastries instead. Bonus points for chocolate sauce.

Goldielocks

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #142 on: March 23, 2018, 04:15:10 PM »
You can dehydrate.   Bread crumbs / cake crumbs can be stored a long time and used to fill out granola bars or cookies, even muffins that you make.

Missy B

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #143 on: March 23, 2018, 04:55:14 PM »
lostinwoods,

Can you encourage the management at your local store to reach out to your local food banks and/or an organization like Second Harvest to see if there is a way to donate that excess food rather than dumping it?  Lots of foodbanks and the organizations that support them have grocery salvage operations.  At the one I volunteer at, probably 80-90% of the food comes from grocery salvage.

I've worked for 2 companies, roughly 11 stores... I'll share my experience

The first company was an 18 store family-owned supermarket and deathly afraid of lawsuits.  They claimed someone could get sick off the donated food and sue the company for a ton of money.  Nothing was donated.

The company I work for currently (a massive organic/"green" market you may have heard of) does have food banks and companies that we donate to.  I would still say that only about 5% of the salvageable food actually makes its way out the door. 

The problem is it's a store by store effort and companies don't have specific policies in place.  Our company throws out enough that we could feed entire countries, but donating it is costly and is a hassle for employees that are already struggling to get the bare minimum done.  The reason we donate is really only for the tax write-off, which requires an employee costing out the loss and recording it, which takes time (money).  Then it takes up valuable space in backrooms, coolers and freezers that is usually much needed to store product.  All of that combined with the high-turnover rate and "don't give an f" attitude of many retail employees leads to a system that doesn't actually work.  Those in need only end up getting scraps of what is actually tossed everyday.

Maybe it's because of Christmas (or the eggnog), but this thread had inspired me to reach out to local food banks and work with them to create a better system.  If it was pitched right, with emphasis on the tax write-off and public relations/media coverage for the store, combined with a useable execution strategy that the stores could work with, I think a huge dent could be made in the waste.


This is a response to an old post... but still timely. An organization that started here in Vancouver does exactly what is described above. They were started (15? 20?) years ago by a group of business-people who worked out how they could redirect food efficiently and benefit the donors by a)providing charitable receipts and b) reducing tippage fees.
They freely share their model. They have presented at the UN and many other cities, and supply food to many charitable organizations. They also run several grocery stores, open to social-services clients, where they can buy the food they choose at great discounts.

http://www.questoutreach.org/

Tomnomnom

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #144 on: September 18, 2019, 01:39:39 PM »
I have been dumpstering for almost a decade now, primarily for groceries and can add my two cents. It is a super fun 'hobby' for those of us privileged enough to do it by choice. It is similar to going to yard sales. Often you find nothing good, but when you do, it's like finding treasure in a trashpile... or I guess it IS finding treasure in a trash pile. It often shows up in abundance beyond the useful. Five crates of bananas can be hard on the digestive system. My recommendation is to get used to feeding your friends, family and neighbors, freeze or preserve what you can and get some animals that can be fed the rest (chickens, pigs etc...). When actually dumpstering, be courteous and responsible, the biggest concerns of grocery stores are likely 1)liability from someone eating spoiled food (sidenote: I have eaten thousands of lbs of food from the garbage and never been made sick by it. Just avoid the stuff that's overly spoiled and wash your produce) 2)someone making a mess 3)liability from someone being hurt while climbing in a dumpster 4)confusion about what your doing, I often have people tell me that I can not dump stuff in their garbage. When I explain that I'm looking for food to feed my animals, they either ask me not to or offer more bounty for my trunk. Last comment, get it while you can. Dumpstering is being killed by trash compactors. I work for a company that designs supermarkets and these puppies are being added where-ever possible. Make hay while the sun shines everyone and have fun!

Davnasty

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #145 on: September 18, 2019, 02:24:24 PM »
I have been dumpstering for almost a decade now, primarily for groceries and can add my two cents. It is a super fun 'hobby' for those of us privileged enough to do it by choice. It is similar to going to yard sales. Often you find nothing good, but when you do, it's like finding treasure in a trashpile... or I guess it IS finding treasure in a trash pile. It often shows up in abundance beyond the useful. Five crates of bananas can be hard on the digestive system.

Can relate to the banana find, in fact I think it was exactly 5 cases we came across. I only took 1 and still had no idea what to do with 40+ lbs of bananas. A chest freezer would pair well with dumpster diving.

Quote
My recommendation is to get used to feeding your friends, family and neighbors, freeze or preserve what you can and get some animals that can be fed the rest (chickens, pigs etc...). When actually dumpstering, be courteous and responsible, the biggest concerns of grocery stores are likely 1)liability from someone eating spoiled food (sidenote: I have eaten thousands of lbs of food from the garbage and never been made sick by it. Just avoid the stuff that's overly spoiled and wash your produce) 2)someone making a mess 3)liability from someone being hurt while climbing in a dumpster 4)confusion about what your doing, I often have people tell me that I can not dump stuff in their garbage. When I explain that I'm looking for food to feed my animals, they either ask me not to or offer more bounty for my trunk.

"Food for my animals" is probably the easiest explanation and least likely to make someone think you're crazy. Luckily I haven't had to use it as I've never been questioned or even seen (by employees, customers have definitely given some confused looks) as far as I know. I only dive at one location and the employees are probably too busy to notice.

Quote
Last comment, get it while you can. Dumpstering is being killed by trash compactors. I work for a company that designs supermarkets and these puppies are being added where-ever possible. Make hay while the sun shines everyone and have fun!

What is the driving reason for using compactors?

It's a shame that compactors make it more difficult to save the food but maybe the improved efficiency of hauling compacted trash is an environmental win?

meatgrinder

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #146 on: September 24, 2019, 01:36:35 PM »
"Definitely bad ass" - Oscar the Grouch

economista

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #147 on: September 24, 2019, 03:03:34 PM »
I just found this thread and I am a bit torn on the idea. Growing up my mom would dumpster dive a lot. The local bookstore would throw out their clearance books that didn’t sell, but they would tear off the covers first. So I had a lot of books without covers on them. That was mainly where she did it, but also at the local college after move-out started. SO MUCH just thrown away instead of taken home at the end of the semester. It would always embarrass me though if she would talk about it around my friends.

I was thinking about the idea of DDing for food and I think the ethical ramifications depend on where you live. I live in a city with a very large homeless population  and pretty much any time of the day and night you can see homeless people going through dumpsters and even people’s trash cans outside their homes. If I found a dumpster behind a grocery store that had good food in it, I would feel really bad taking that food for myself when there are so many homeless people around who can’t buy their own food. That being said, I’ve never looked to see if the dumpsters are locked or not - given the way the business community tends to treat the homeless around here, I would assume they are all locked/compacted anyway to discourage homeless from hanging around the store.

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #148 on: September 26, 2019, 09:59:55 AM »
I just found this thread and I am a bit torn on the idea. Growing up my mom would dumpster dive a lot. The local bookstore would throw out their clearance books that didn’t sell, but they would tear off the covers first. So I had a lot of books without covers on them. That was mainly where she did it, but also at the local college after move-out started. SO MUCH just thrown away instead of taken home at the end of the semester. It would always embarrass me though if she would talk about it around my friends.

I was thinking about the idea of DDing for food and I think the ethical ramifications depend on where you live. I live in a city with a very large homeless population  and pretty much any time of the day and night you can see homeless people going through dumpsters and even people’s trash cans outside their homes. If I found a dumpster behind a grocery store that had good food in it, I would feel really bad taking that food for myself when there are so many homeless peopleI’ve never looked to see if the dumpsters are locked or not - given the way the business community tends to treat the homeless around here, I would assume they are all locked/compacted anyway to discourage homeless from hanging around the store.

Why are dumpsters locked, any idea? Of course, you admitted you dont know if they ARE locked.

You do know that “the business community” treats the homeless badly. Examples?

You wouldnt dive for food to take it out of the mouths of homeless people.

This post seems like a lot of virtue signaling.

Signed,
Iris—, longtime dumpster diver in an urban downtown area. Have never seen homeless dive let alone for food. Have seen and picked up perfectly good food distributed to homeless in food giveaway programs, food that the homeless then strew about the area and create unsightly trashed places.

Frankly, many who dive here drive around in old trucks picking up metal and useful stuff. They are entrepreneurs. Pickers are an important  part of the recycling stream.


mm1970

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Re: Dumpster Diving for Groceries
« Reply #149 on: September 26, 2019, 04:48:43 PM »
I just found this thread and I am a bit torn on the idea. Growing up my mom would dumpster dive a lot. The local bookstore would throw out their clearance books that didn’t sell, but they would tear off the covers first. So I had a lot of books without covers on them. That was mainly where she did it, but also at the local college after move-out started. SO MUCH just thrown away instead of taken home at the end of the semester. It would always embarrass me though if she would talk about it around my friends.

I was thinking about the idea of DDing for food and I think the ethical ramifications depend on where you live. I live in a city with a very large homeless population  and pretty much any time of the day and night you can see homeless people going through dumpsters and even people’s trash cans outside their homes. If I found a dumpster behind a grocery store that had good food in it, I would feel really bad taking that food for myself when there are so many homeless peopleI’ve never looked to see if the dumpsters are locked or not - given the way the business community tends to treat the homeless around here, I would assume they are all locked/compacted anyway to discourage homeless from hanging around the store.

Why are dumpsters locked, any idea? Of course, you admitted you dont know if they ARE locked.

You do know that “the business community” treats the homeless badly. Examples?

You wouldnt dive for food to take it out of the mouths of homeless people.

This post seems like a lot of virtue signaling.

Signed,
Iris—, longtime dumpster diver in an urban downtown area. Have never seen homeless dive let alone for food. Have seen and picked up perfectly good food distributed to homeless in food giveaway programs, food that the homeless then strew about the area and create unsightly trashed places.

Frankly, many who dive here drive around in old trucks picking up metal and useful stuff. They are entrepreneurs. Pickers are an important  part of the recycling stream.
I cannot speak for economista - I'm sure it's very location dependent.

"Business community" being hostile to homeless folks can include using security guards to drive them away, calling the police on them, posting signs at the parking lots to discourage people from donating.  I see all of these things in my town.  (To be honest, we have a lot of services for the homeless here, so it's a blessing and a curse).

I have rarely seen homeless people HERE looking for food in dumpsters, but the majority of our local grocery stores currently donate their extra food/ almost expired food/ etc. to the homeless shelter and other local charities.  (Some of them used to sell it at a deep discount - I enjoyed those deep discounts!  They don't anymore.)

I would have no problem "taking food from a possible homeless person" from a dumpster (at work after parties or work lunches, everyone knows I'll take leftovers!) because of my own personal experiences and observations.  I can't speak for anyone else's - rather than assuming it's virtue signaling, you could actually assume that her opinion is based on her own observations and experiences.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!